Pallets are widely used to hold and transport many different types of loads. Pallet forks are implements used to lift and transport palletized loads. The designs or dimensions for pallets are semi-standardized or customary, so pallet forks can be made which will be able to pickup a majority of pallets encountered. Pallets and pallet forks are versatile tools, and are a widely accepted and commonly used in manufacturing, construction, warehousing, transportation, retailing, and other commercial environments.
Pallet forks can be used on construction sites to pickup and transport building materials on pallets. For example, palletized building materials may arrive at a building site on a flat bed trailer, and can be unloaded and transported with a pallet fork to a storage area on the site. There are often several different construction machines available on a building site which can use a pallet fork as an implement. These include wheel loaders, back hoe loaders, telehandlers, and forklifts. In addition to lifting and transporting palletized building materials, a machine with a pallet fork can also pickup a wide variety of non-palletized materials. For example, a pallet fork may be used to pickup sheets of wood building materials, bundles of roofing shingles, large concrete or steel pipes, large tool chests, hoppers for concrete or gravel, etc.
Productivity when using a pallet fork can depend in large part upon visibility. Especially when a pallet fork is used as an attachment on a wheel loader or back hoe loader or similar equipment, visibility may be compromised to the detriment of productivity and also operator comfort. By visibility, we mean the ability to see the fork tines—especially the tips of the fork tines—and the pallet or load, in order to quickly and accurately aim the movement and positioning of the fork tines underneath the pallet or load, and then the movement and positioning of the pallet or load before setting it down.
Some pallet fork designs used in the past have not always permitted easy visibility to the fork tines. Especially when the fork tines are adjustable within a range of different spreads, certain positions of the fork tines result in poor visibility.
Fork tines can be fixed to the pallet fork, or be allowed to swing when the pallet fork tilts forward. Some pallet forks have fixed tines, some have swinging tines, and some are adjustable with tines that can be selectively set for fixed operation or swinging. Adjustable pallet forks have mechanisms for fixing the tines and releasing them so they can swing. But the prior art mechanisms for fixing tines have not always been as reliable or simple as they could be.